It is known to axially displace a coil or wire by rotating the coil or wire, having an outer circumference of the rotating coil or wire engage with rollers or similar elements, and using the engagement of the outer circumference with the rollers or similar elements to translate the rotation of the coil or wire into axial displacement of the coil or wire. For example, such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,686,732; 4,580,306; 4,395,791; 4,153,966; and 3,882,565 (Irwin, Lawrence F.)
It also is known to rotate an element in frictional engagement with an outer circumference of a coil or wire to axially displace the coil or wire, for example, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,346,728 (Carlson, Emil).
It is further known to linearly displace a rack rod by revolving rollers, in contact with the rod, about an outer peripheral surface of the rod. Grooves in the rollers mesh with a thread for the rod. Such an arrangement is taught by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0117888 (Tsubono, Isamu et al.).